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Monday, July 10, 2006

As we celebrated our nation’s Independence today, I believe that we as Bahamians should also take this midyear point to look towards the future and focus on how the many choices and decisions we make today will affect our nation tomorrow.

The sad thing about our country is that most Bahamians aren’t aware of the tremendous challenges that confront our nation on the world stage. Yet many challenges exist here at home that we must work to solve today to protect future generations of Bahamians. We have a government that don’t respect the people they serve; everyday making decisions that impact our very lives.

We have our various religious leaders making decisions that forms or shape our lives every single day. These ‘DEMI-GODS’ stand on their pulpits and hand out critism and hate every Sunday and its sickening. How can a MAN of God live his life as if he is above and beyond the realms of society; I was told about a time when our religious leaders lived in the same community as the people they serve. Now Miles Munroe and Neil Ellis and the like live a life of luxury that takes them out into the areas that intimidate the average Bahamian, these men keep our society down and broken.

In addition, the entrance of undocumented immigrants into this country is a severe threat to our economic well being and our security. I myself don’t have a problem with the persons that come here illegally because if we are going to be a nation that grows we can’t do it with Bahamians alone. The illegal persons here makes me reflect upon the land in which I live; I have freedom, my economy is doing good and the racial issues that exist here aren’t that detrimental to my health.

In this great nation, will be unable to compete in the global economy if it believes 'D+' is an acceptable passing grade for the BGCSE. I feel that we need to adopt the No Child Left Behind Act, for I believe that we need a tougher curriculum and standards for the country's survival. I hope that the Government takes a long and hard look at our deteriorating social infrastructure. Our schools are in a dire state, and our ability to offer persons that go abroad to seek higher education a job that reflects what they achieve cannot be matched.

Isn’t it funny that we as a people cannot and will not be able to sustain our very existence? Think about it; food is essential for life, without it we will expire. Hence I propose that the Government could and should do so much more than it is doing for the self-preservation of our nation and recognize the opportunity to create the conditions in which optimal health-personal, environmental, social, and economic condition can be achieved through a comprehensive food policy ensuring our self resilience. People often think of self-sufficiency as moving to another country and giving up everything worth living for, but that's not what I am presenting here. We live in the commercial Mecca of the Bahamas and the hobby farm idea does not suit us well, instead a smaller version that provides moderate self-sufficiency is more suitable. While the ultimate goal is to become totally self reliant, part of the way is better than none. However, in The Bahamas, very limited efforts have been made in the post-Independent era, by administration or research agencies to investigate the application and impact of both indigenous and modern science-based technological knowledge on the country’s farming system. This can only hurt us as a nation and place us in a situation that offers no relief.

In The Bahamas, the growth of Tourism and Financial Services has had very tiny effects on the development of manufacturing industry. The country has not capitalised on the vast potential for agro-industrial development, and the range of processed products is limited both in terms of product variety and in the level of processing. As a consequence, there are few linkages, even embryonic, between the sectors of the Bahamian economy coupled with a weak technological capability and a serious lack of technological infrastructure and diversification in production. The inevitable result is an imbalance between the low levels of exports and the high levels of imports (as well as between national savings and domestic investment spending) and, hence, the external deficit or the balance-of-payments constraint has been a serious problem. This shows, once again, the development problem and limitations associated with the mono-sectorial structure of the Bahamian economy.

The Bahamian economy exhibits all of the characteristics of a Caribbean-type economy. The country’s reliance on foreign economic activity and foreign exchange has created a state of weak domestic economic capability which in fact deepens the vulnerability of the Bahamian economy. Indeed, The Bahamas has become heavily dependent on Tourism and financial activities, which have, on the one hand, led to a significant increase in the level of National Income and provided jobs to a sizable proportion of the labor force; but, on the other, brought about a lack of stability in [both] employment and national income levels, especially during the last two decades or so. However, openness and vulnerability impinge on the economy’s ability to be ‘self-sustaining’ in its growth pattern. In The Bahamas, the growth of Tourism and Financial Services has had very negligible effects on the development of manufacturing industry. The country has not capitalized on the vast potential for agro-industrial development, and the range of processed products is limited both in terms of product variety and in the level of processing. As a consequence, there are few linkages, even embryonic, between the sectors of the Bahamian economy coupled with a weak technological capability and a serious lack of technological infrastructure and diversification in production. The inevitable result is an imbalance between the low levels of exports and the high levels of imports (as well as between national savings and domestic investment spending) and, hence, the external deficit or the balance-of-payments constraint has been a serious problem. This shows, once again, the development problem and limitations associated with the mono-sectorial structure of the Bahamian economy.

Independence Day is an opportunity to reflect upon all that we have to be thankful for as Bahamians. Our freedoms and liberties inspired by the Declaration of Independence have stood the test of time for 33 years. But it’s also a good occasion to plan for the future, and it certainly doesn’t hurt to focus our sights on all that we must overcome in order to keep our country moving forward on a prosperous path. It’s time that this Administration lead our country forward and not back away from tackling the very real challenges that lie ahead, to me, there would be nothing more patriotic.

The Bahamian economy has for many decades had foreign ownership and control over its key economic sectors, Tourism and Financial Services, and is heavily dependent on foreign private investment, skills and technological innovation. This dependence is accompanied by high levels of imports, not only for capital and intermediate goods but also for the most elementary and simple consumer goods, including food (i.e. the importation of the consumption patterns of the affluent North American societies). Devising the necessary measures to nurture and promote vibrant Bahamian economy will ensure a greater and better use of existing resources –along with the further development of Tourism and Financial Services- seems to be a more sensible way to confront the future. Such an approach seems, certainly, a better option for the endogenous development and competency of the Bahamian economy, than a frantic search for accelerated ‘Western-style’ modernization –a ‘vision’ that decision and policy-makers in The Bahamas aspire to. The alternative and more realistic development paradigm, already discussed, would require the pursuit of Developmental State policies. This is what the Bahamian economy needs.